THE LAST REX CRUCESIGNATUS, EDWARD I, AND THE MONGOL ALLIANCE Attila Hárány This study explores the crusading efforts of Edward I, king of England (1272— 1307), in the last decades of the thirteenth century. It investigates the reason why the Plantagenet ruler was highly respected as the only athleta Christi on whom all the Christian powers laid their hopes to withstand the Muslims. I would not like to provide a detailed overview of King Edward's 1270 crusade, but give an analysis of the king's role and introduce his motives in the mirror of the expectations of the West. Edward I never ceased to support the negotium Terrae Sanctae, and after the fall of Acre he was treated as the apostle of the recuperatio. Edward was the only ruler in Europe to realize how rational it was to ally with the Mongols; therefore here I am examining Edward's life-long struggle to have an alliance with these pagans acknowledged. I am not giving an overview of the formation of the Franco-Mongol alliance from the late 1240s. Nevertheless, it has to be noted at the outset that England, and especially her monarch, Edward, played a primary role in the endeavors to establish not only political but strategic and tactical cooperation with the Il-Khans of Persia against the Mamluks. The Plantagenets were much concerned with taking a stand in the crusading enterprises and were the first to seek knowledge about the Mongols. They were well aware of the Tatars' superior military machinery. I will give a few snapshots of how they obtained direct knowledge about the Mongols, for instance, the letters incorporated in Matthew Paris' Chronica Majora.1 The Carmen Miserabile of Rogerius, Dean of Várad (Oradea) must also have been known to them through Rogerius' patron, the English Cardinal John Toletanus, and his circle, the English delegates at the Council of Lyons I. At the outset, England acted "normally," as an enemy of the Mongols. In 1241 Pope Gregory IX appealed to Henry III to take up arms against the Tartars 1 Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, vols 1—8, ed. H. R. Luard (Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores, Rolls series 1RS], 57) (London: Longman, 1872-1883), vol. 4, 270-277; vol. 6, 79-80. 2 Francesco Babinger, "Maestro Ruggiero delle Puglie relatore prepoliano sui Tatari," in Net Uli. Centenario della Nascita di Marco Polo (Venice: Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, 1955), 53-61, 58-60. plundering Hungary.3 Gregory agreed to transfer the crusading vows already taken against the Muslims to an enterprise against the Mongols.4 The crown of England was one of the first to respond positively; when the pope proclaimed a crusade in Eastern Europe in 1253,5 King Henry and Prince Edward assumed the Cross and enrolled to fight in Hungary.6 Although Henry III fixed a schedule for his departure (for 1256), due to the negotium Siciliae he did not fulfill his oath.7 Thus, after the 1259 assault of the Golden Horde, Prince Edward himself was urged to come to the aid of Hungary, as Khan Berke envisaged a great assault against Western Europe.' The pope also asked Richard of Cornwall to engage in the defense of the eastern boundaries of Christendom.1" 3 Jean Louis Alphonse Huillard-Bréholles, ed. História Diplomatica Triderici Secundi sive constitutiones, privilegia, mandata instrumenta, qua supersunt istius imperatoris et filiorum ejus, 12 vols (Paris: Henry Plön, 1852-1861), vol. V, 360-841; 921-985. 4 Karl Rodenberg, ed, Epistolae saeeuliXIIIe regestispontificum Romauorumselectae (Monumenta Germaniae Historka [MGH] Epistolae), 3 vols (Hannover: MGH, 1883-1894), vol. I, 723, no. 822; Innocent IV licensing commutatio: Augustinus Theiner, ed, Vetera monumenta historica Hungáriám sacram illustrantia maximám partem nondum édita ex tabulariis Vaticanis, 2 vols (Rome and Zagreb, 1863-1875), nos. 379 and 388; Christoph T Maier, Preaching the Crusades: Mendicant Friars and the Cross in the Thirteenth Century (New York: CUP, 1994), 84-85. 5 Gustav Friedrich et al, ed. Codex diplomaticus et epistolaris regni Bohemiae, 5 vols (Prague, 1907—1993), vol. IV, fasc. I, ed. Jindřich Sebánek and Sása Dušková (Prague: Cekoslovenská akademie, 1962), No. 466. ň WH. Bliss and J. A. Twemlow, ed. Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. Papal Tetters, 20 vols (London: His/Her Majesty's Stationery Office [HMSO], 1893-[2005]) [hereafter: CPL] vol. I, 290. 7 Thomas Rymer, Foedera, conventions, literae, et cujuscunque generis acta publica inter reges Angliae, 20 vols (London, 1704—1735 unless otherwise mentioned) vol. I. i. 282; Calendar of 'the Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office [1232-1509] 52 vols (London: HMSO, 1891-1916) [hereafter: CPR], vol. IV, Henry III: 1247-1258, 157-158. 8 Alexander IV's exhortatio against the Tatars threatening Hungary: The Nadonal Archives [Public Record Office, hereafter PRO] Special Collections Ancient Correspondence [hereafter: SC] SC 7/3/24; Georgius Fejér, ed. Codex diplomaticus Hungáriáé ecclesiasticus ac civilis 43 vols (Buda, 1829-1844) [Fejér, CD], vol. VII/1. 314-319; Rymer, Foedera, vol. I. i. 402: 1260 ad resistendum Tataris, diuersa regna, inter haec etiam Hungáriám, depopulantibus, prouocat.... Cum enim iidem 1 atari, ... extrema pene desolatione concassa, ... Christiane) ... suo nomine subiugatis, ...per Vngariam cum eisdem Tataris,pestis desolationis intrauit. 9 Georg Waitz et al, ed. Chronica minor auctore Minorita Erphordiensi (MGH Scriptores in Folio XXIV) Annales aevi Suevici (Supplementa tomorum XVI-XVII). Gesta saec. XII et XIII (Supplementa tomorum XX-XXIII) (Hannover: MGH, 1879), 202. 10 Epistolae saeculi, vol. III. 548. no. 560/1. For a long time the Mongols were seen as "another heathen" and it was a long process before they came to be accepted as allies. I will not cover here the long history of the papal-Mongol embassies after 1241; I am focusing on only those proposing a joint action, mainly those concerning the role of Edward I. From 1245 the popes assigned England a particular role; they appealed to Henry III several times to depart on a passage. After the defeat at La Forbie in 1244, the Franks sent exbortationes to King St. J „ouis IX and Henry III, but still against the Mongol threat.12 In a way it was England that contributed to the realization of the necessity of an alliance with the Mongols. It is not surprising that Waleran, bishop of Beirut, travelled to England to ask Henry personally11 and Bohemund VI, prince of Antioch, proposed to England the first scheme of alliance with the Mongols.'4 The first papal mission to treat with the Mongol army leaders in Persia was that of Lawrence of Portugal in 1245, escorted by two English friars.11 In 1247 Ascelino of Lombardy negotiated with Noyan Baiju/Baichu about a combined 11 Innocent IV, 1245: PRO SC 7/20/5; Jane E. Sayers, ed. Original Papal Documents in England and Wales from the Accession of Pope Innocent III to the death of Pope Benedict XI (1198— 1304) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), no. 270; 1247: PRO SC 7/21/20; Original Papal Documents, no. 323; Exhortatio to accelerate the preparations, 1250: PRO SC 7/19/21; Original Papal Documents, no. 384; 1250-52: a three-year tithe imposed: PRO SC 7/35/2; SC 7/20/30; SC 7/20/36; Original papal documents, nos. 367; 416. 12 Reinhold Röhricht, ed, Regesía Regni Hierosolymitani (1097-1291) 2 vols (Innsbruck: Libraria Academica Wagneriana, 1893), vol. I, no. 1124; Paris, Chronica Majora, vol. IV, 337-344. 13 Calendar op Charter Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office [1226—1516] 6 vols (London: HMSO, 1903), 1242-1247, 372; Calendar of the Liberate Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office [1226-72] 6 vols (London: HMSO,'1917-1964) [hereafter CLR], vol. Ill, 1245- 1251, 10-11; 15; 37. 14 1255: Rymer, Foedera, vol. I. ii. 321; Annales de Burton, in H. R. Luard, ed. Annates Monastici, 5 vols (RS, 36) (London: Longman, 1864-1869), 369-371; CER, 1251-1260, 261; Regesta Regni Hierosolymitani, vol. I, no. 1235. 15 Martiniano Roncaglia, "Frère Laurent de Portugal O.F.M. et sa legation en Orient (1245—1248 env.)," Bollettino della badiagreca di Grottaferrata n.s. 7 (1953): 33—44. action to capture Baghdad.'6 The noyan also sent envoys to the curia.' In 1248, Eljigidey, noyan of Mosul, put forward a scheme for a joint operation to King- Louis IX of France, who sent Andrew of Longjumeau in return." He forwarded the letter to Henry III, who also learned of Longjumeau's report." In 1253 it was well-known at the English court that Louis was making attempts to induce Sartaq, the Golden Horde khan's son, who was said to have received baptism, to assist the Latin Christians against the Muslims.2" The Mongols' successes in the Near East were short-lived. After the defeat at Ain Jalut (1260), and particularly as the Mamluk sultan, Baybars, contracted an alliance with the Golden Horde and coordinated their offensives, the situation became acute both for the Franks and the Mongols, who were caught in a Mamluk—Golden Horde "pair of pincers."2' The Il-Khan had to face almost constant assaults from across the Caucasus.22 The Il-Khans were now dependent upon a military alliance with the Christians. In practice, although they were making constant efforts to collaborate with the Christians, they only found a reliable ally in King Edward. At first, in 1262, Il-Khan Hülegü/Hulagu suggested a joint campaign to King Louis IX.23 The crusaders wxre to blockade the ports in Egypt while the 16 1245: Christopher Dawson, The Mongol Mission. Narratives and letters of the Franciscan Missionaries in Mongolia and China in the Thirteenth and Tourteenth Centimes (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1955), 53-54; Peter Jackson, The Mongols and the West, 1221-1410 (Harlow: Longman, 2005), 88; Karl-Ernst Lupprian, Beziehungen der Päpste zu islamischen und mongolischen Herrschern im 13.